


Cruel

by Flynne



Series: Lynnie Amell [8]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Lynnie Amell, i didn't know rage fluff was a thing until i wrote it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-05-30 05:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15090005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flynne/pseuds/Flynne
Summary: On the eve of the battle with the Archdemon, Lynnie's band of companions falls one short.





	Cruel

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Cruel" for Fictober in 2016. More notes at the end.

Lynnie’s hands ached but her fists remained clenched, hard as iron. She stared unblinking into the flames on the hearth until her eyes burned, standing still as stone even when she heard the tramp of familiar boots behind her. She heard Alistair hesitate in the doorway, but didn’t turn as he entered. The door let out a low groan as he gently swung it closed, and he crossed the room to stand beside her, gazing down at the waning fire along with her.

“Well. Riordan isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, is he?” His attempt at humor fell flat, the words coming out thin and strained. When she didn’t acknowledge him, he turned to look at her. His brows lifted slightly when he saw the furious set of her jaw, and his weary expression shifted to worry. “Lynnie, what…?”

“Morrigan’s gone.” She forced the words out between clenched teeth.

Alistair stared. “She’s…Morrigan’s  _what?_ ”

“She left.” Lynnie’s clenched fists began to shake. “She won’t be coming with us.”

“She left? S-she just  _left?_ ” Disbelief made him stammer, but it was quickly swallowed up by anger. “Did - did she say why?”

The truth curdled thick and sour on her tongue, but she swallowed it back. “It doesn’t matter. She’s gone, and she won’t be coming back.”

“After all this time…” He sounded stunned. “Maker knows that woman’s a menace, but I never thought…I never expected she’d abandon you.”

Lynnie kept her eyes fixed on the burning coals. “It doesn’t matter,” she said coldly. “We don’t need her.”

Alistair gazed at her in silence. She knew he could tell that she was holding something back, but he chose not to press. He brushed a gloved hand against her clenched fist, then retreated out of view. Lynnie heard the slow series of metallic clanks as he shed his armor, and when he returned to her side, he was clad in the soft shirt and trousers he wore to sleep.

He didn’t speak, but reached forward to unhook the armor clasps along her shoulders. He eased her pauldrons free one by one, then gently nudged her arm out of the way, reaching for the catches along her side. Lynnie’s rigid stance didn’t waver, but she shut her eyes and didn’t resist as he removed her cuirass, nor when his hands moved to her waist to loosen her tasset. The ironbark plates rubbed together with a rough, silvery sound like old wind chimes. As the skirt of armor came away, Lynnie opened her eyes again and finally turned to look at him. He looked weary and sad, but smiled all the same when she met his gaze.

He took her face in his hands, thumbing away the tears on her cheeks that had escaped without her noticing, then bent down to kiss her forehead. Lynnie curled her hands around his wrists and let out a shaky sigh, leaning into him for a moment before letting go and stepping away.

Alistair was already in bed when Lynnie finished changing into her nightclothes. Even though they were in a fortress-like castle and surrounded by soldiers, she still chose to wear the nightshirt and pants she’d worn when they were in camp, feeling the need to be ready to fight if she had to. She slipped beneath the blankets and immediately moved into Alistair’s waiting arms.

He didn’t speak for a long time - just held her close, stroking her hair as she tucked her head into the hollow of his throat. “It’s going to be all right,” he said at last, voice rumbling low in his chest.

Tears welled in Lynnie’s eyes again, and she hid her face against his shoulder. “I don’t see how.” She’d choked back the truth of her confrontation with Morrigan, but she couldn’t hold in her despairing confession.

“Hey, now. That doesn’t sound like the Lynnie I know.” He lifted her chin, and this time when he smiled down at her, the fatigue and worry was gone from his face. “We’ll stop the Blight. We’ll make it through this.” He winked. “We’ve got a pretty good track record so far.”

Lynnie sniffled a bit, and if her answering smile was tremulous, at least it was genuine. “I suppose we do, at that.”

“That’s more like it.” He bent his head to brush his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, then lay back as she settled against his chest once more.

Lynnie closed her eyes, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. Within the sheltering circle of his arms, her own heart slowed and steadied, beating in peaceful rhythm with his own as she drifted off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Lynnie was my first warden for DAO so I had no idea what was going to happen until she actually got to the end of the game. The bit with Morrigan's offer is deeply disturbing to me (and really makes me angry) for a lot of reasons - so even though I made choices in-game that would allow both Lynnie and Alistair to survive, Lynnie's canon is that she told Morrigan no. As far as she knew, Morrigan left - but then after Lynnie killed the Archdemon, she was surprised to learn that 1) both she and Alistair were, in fact, still alive, and 2) Morrigan actually HAD been there for the battle. So what had happened?
> 
> But Lynnie never found out - by the time she'd recovered and reunited with her party, Riordan was long-dead and Morrigan had vanished...and neither were around for her to ask.


End file.
